A registered sex offender has been sentenced to ten years in federal prison, having previously pleaded guilty to charges of attempted inducement of a minor to engage in illicit sexual activity, possession with intent to view child pornography, and attempted transfer of obscene material to a minor, announced United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha.
Mathew Hoard, 40, of Smithfield, was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge Mary S. McElroy to 120 months in federal prison to be followed by eight years of federal supervised release.
In July 2020, Hoard began communicating online and by text messaging with a person he believed to be a 14-year-old girl, but who was in fact an undercover Newport Police Department Detective. According to information presented to the court, during those communications, which lasted for more than two months, Hoard sent a sexually explicit image and sexually graphic messages, repeatedly requested that the “girl” send nude pictures of herself to Hoard. He also attempted to arrange a meeting to engage in sex.
In February 2020, while conducting an unrelated investigation, the Rhode Island State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force learned from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that an individual had uploaded child pornography to a social media platform. Members of the Task Force later determined that the upload came from an IP address utilized by Mathew Hoard. On September 29, 2020, members of the ICAC Task Force executed a court-authorized search of Hoard’s residence and seized a cell phone and a laptop computer. The devices were found to contain videos and images of child pornography. Among the images was an image exchanged between Hoard and the undercover Newport Police Department detective.
In 2011, Hoard was convicted in the State of Rhode Island for possession of child pornography, and as a result of that conviction, he was required to register as a sex offender.
This Project Safe Childhood case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Denise M. Barton and Julie M. White.
The matter was investigated by the Rhode Island State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the Newport Police Department, and Homeland Security Investigations.
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